- Grenelle
Grenelle is a "quartier" in southwestern
Paris ,France . It is a part of the 15th arrondissement.The area takes it name from
Latin "Garanella", meaning a wooded area where rabbits live. The name eventually became "Guarnelles" and "Garnelles" before ending up with its modern-day name.There is currently a
Boulevard de Grenelle which runs along the North delimitation of the "quartier", and aRue de Grenelle , a few kilometers North-East in the 7th arrondissement.History
In 52 BCE, "Garanella" plain was the site of a battle between the troops of the
Gaul ish chiefCamulogène and theRoman legion under GeneralLabienus . Despite their courageous resistance, the Gauls were defeated.Towards the middle of the 13th century, Grenelle became a
fiefdom of theAbbey of Saint Genevieve and became part of the village ofVaugirard .On May 15th,
1824 , two city councillors from Vaugirard,Jean-Léonard Violet andAlphonse Letellier , bought and divided up Grenelle plain. They did this rather quickly, and the new "quartier" "Beaugrenelle " was founded on June 27th,1824 .Thenceforth, under the encouragement of a group of entrepreneurs (the "Compagnie des Entrepreneurs", founded by Violet and
Letellier ), the "quartier" continued to develop, occasionally provoking feelings of hostility from residents of old Vaugirard. Thus, on May 13th, 1829, following the refusal of the city to install oil lamps, the residents of Beaugrenelle demanded to break off from Vaugirard, a separation which took place the next year. However, it was to be short-lived. OnJanuary 1 , 1860, despite the objections of the residents of Grenelle,Baron Haussmann decided to annex Grenelle, Vaugirard, andJavel , thus creating theXVe arrondissement .Notable events
* Explosion of the Powder Magazine at Grenelle, (1794) in which fifteen hundred persons lost their lives — Decree for checking the progress of
Vandalism — The monuments of the arts and sciences placed under the care of the authorities. [History of the French Revolution, page IX, by Adolphe Thiers, Frederic Shoberl, 1866]* The (1804) explosion of the Grenelle powder magazine took place, which shook all Paris, and caused many women to abort. [Dublin Hospital Gazette, 1857, page 351]
References
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